Author: Erika Bullock

This past week, the Chronicle of Higher Education published an article detailing milestones in digital credentialing. One of these milestones is the Catalyst Badge Program, a partnership between the Designing the Future(s) Initiative, the Division of Student Affairs at Georgetown University, and Education Design Lab (EDL). To read more about the Catalyst program milestone, 21st Century Badging, and other developments in digital badging and credentials, please read the full Chronicle article here.

The Designing the Future(s) Initiative, in partnership with the Deloitte Foundation, kicked off the second year of the Deloitte Foundation Data Analytics Fellowship at Georgetown University this past Monday with the 2016 theme of Education and the Workforce.

The current context of higher education is characterized by rising tuition costs, a more diversified student population, and emerging data that connect post-baccalaureate engagement in the workplace and in civic life with high impact, formational experiences during students’ time at colleges and universities. As we examine ways to meet the demand for job skills development and personal formation while addressing the current economic and social context, this Fellowship is perfectly timed. The 2016 Fellowship was awarded to student-driven research projects with potential to influence the national conversation around the value of and innovation in higher education, the relationship between higher education and workforce success, and the relationship between higher education and lifelong formation.

Students from across the university applied to participate in the 2016 Deloitte Core Consulting Series workshops. Selected students then engaged in a two-day training and simulated case study around higher education and the workforce. After completing the Consulting Series workshops, students submitted a research plan and applied for the Fellowship which will fully fund their research for the next 9 months.

This year’s Fellowship was awarded to four student research projects. Qinkai Ge, Weiye Deng, and Yu Yu will examine questions of equity and engagement in MOOCs; Andrew Langsner will study the effects of holistic education on post-secondary professional experience; Kevin Barsaloux, Mariam Ghavalyan, and Victoria Rosenboom will explore the efficacy of makerspaces in improving student labor outcomes; and Eric Price and Alex Norwood will analyze the factors that improve postsecondary completion and career placement rates.

The Deloitte Project Team and Georgetown University will provide ongoing assistance during the term of the Fellowship in the form of training sessions around data analytics and visualizations, mentored learning opportunities with subject matter experts and professional liaisons, workshops that focus on research design and qualitative data collection, and Georgetown faculty support.

On a September Saturday, the Designing the Future(s) initiative welcomed its second class of Future(s) Fellows with a retreat in ethicslab in Healy Hall.

Designing the Future(s) had a range of activities planned for the Fellows over the course of the four-hour retreat. The event began with a comprehensive look at the curricular programs being advanced through the Red House and presentations by Georgetown faculty and staff members involved in the work.

Fellows also had the opportunity to learn from each other and faculty mentors throughout the retreat, as they participated in discussions and design sessions about crucial questions in higher education. Fellows were asked to imagine the world as it will be in 2030, and to create new infrastructures—and dismantle defunct systems— for a university that would produce ethically-minded global citizens. When imagining a world full of new technologies, politics, and financial systems, Fellows explored how the institution of higher education might have to respond to continue to affect the world in a positive way.

The Future(s) Fellows will continue to meet throughout the semester to engage with faculty and guests in more design sessions, aid in the development of curricular projects, and help to reimagine a Georgetown education for the 21st century.